Ashley Graham Shuts Down Haters Who Are Dissing Her "Vogue" Cover

With the debut of Vogue's March 2017 issue yesterday, Ashley Graham became the first size-14 model to appear on the magazine's cover. The shot depicts Ashley posing alongside Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, among other models, all in matching black turtlenecks.

When Ashley shared the cover on Instagram, one commenter fumed on her behalf, "I still don't get why they made you cover your leg!! And you are the only one posing like that."

Turns out the commenter had no reason to get upset. Ashley actually responded, explaining, "I chose to pose like that..no one told me to do anything."

Instagram

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The other criticisms of the cover still stand — Vogue could have cast a more diverse set of models on the cover (in terms of race, size, age, and more), and the Photoshop question seems valid. But this much is clear: Ashley posed that way because she wanted to. She's been modeling since middle school (that's more than half her lifetime!). At this point, she knows what she's doing.

Hannah Orenstein is the assistant features editor at Seventeen.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram!